Chosen: A Strange New World
by TheGreatHetzer
Summary: Chosen is back, and is better than ever! A young WoT player enters his biggest challenge yet, and his live will change forever. CURRENTLY ON HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

My tank stood atop a hill, surveying the valley below. I had a feeling in my gut that this would be a good battle, it was a tier 8 match and my Panther II was fully upgraded with camo net and enhanced gun laying drive. I had a black and white skin, created by myself. Looking at the enemy team, there was only one tank I was really worried about. The enemy team had a Lowe, and that big gun was a threat to my medium. The map was sacred valley, definitely not the best map for this tank. I could adjust, but I needed to know where the enemy team was first. I typed into the chat.

[ELC AMX, head south and spot at J8, I'll cover you.]

He shot back a simple "Affirmative!" and began on his way. I'll be honest; the Panther II isn't the fastest tier 8 medium. However, I stayed close behind him, climbing the hill and heading towards its crest. Our team down in the lowlands was doing rather well, although there was a T-43 holding the line rather well. I focused back on the ELC, who was cresting the hill. The map suddenly lit up, three heavies were heading my way. There was a Tiger 1, an AMX 50 100, and the Lowe. I ordered the ELC to fall back to my position, and the tiny little guy turned around and high-tailed it down the hill. I was alone, against the best player on the enemy team. A quick look at the player confirmed that.

"Well, Xx_Artemis_xX, let's see if that winrate of yours can hold up." I muttered to myself. A quick keyboard fingering combo moved my tank behind a rock, and I positioned myself to sidescrape. My first shell was loaded, ready for anything.

[Arty, get ready for action at J8! Wake up!]

The friendly arty replied with a "Negative!" that told me I was on my own. A Tiger II started moving to back me up, but his engine was damaged. It would be all over by the time he arrived. Finally, the AMX 50 100 crested the hill. I waited for a good shot into his lower glacis, and fired an AP round that took 235 HP off of him. He stopped and took aim, firing one shot that bounced off my angled side armor. He fired his entire ammo clip, telling me he was a noob with French autoloaders. I reloaded while he was firing, and shot his tracks. After I did this, the Tiger 1 appeared next to him. I shifted targets quickly, putting a round into his lower glacis as well. It was a lucky hit, and the tank began to burn. He fell back behind the hill, and used his fire extinguisher. I turned and fired yet again into the AMX's tracks, keeping him in place. My second shot went through his turret, damaging his gun. I was able to put in two more shots before he finally repaired his tracks and backed up. Now I had to deal with the Lowe.

The Lowe crested the hill after the others fell back, but soon the Tiger appeared next to him. I pulled back to take a shot, but received a hit to the gun mantlet from the Lowe. I took full damage, but I manage to get one shot off into the tank's lower glacis. It angled its armor, and I was unable to get a shot at the lower glacis. While it reloaded, I pulled out and took one more shot at the Tiger 1, leaving it a one-hit kill for me. I then pulled back where they couldn't damage me, and tried to think of a plan.

"What do I do, what do I do…" I thought to myself. Then I had an idea. I would fall back down the hill, and draw the Lowe down here to finish me off. I would then fire into its right track, causing it to veer to the side. Then it would be exposed, and I might be able to get a shell into the ammo rack. I would likely take two or three hits as I withdrew. I loaded my gun, and started to drive backwards down the hill. I took two damaging hits, doing around 500 damage or so to my beloved Panther II. If this worked, it would be worth it. The Tiger 2 made the terrible mistake of following me, and I was able to plant a killshot into it before it could reach me. The Lowe started to follow, just as intended. It rushed towards me, and I took aim at the tracks. I fired, striking the tracks and destroying them. Nothing. The tank didn't veer at all, not enough speed. I was doomed.

Suddenly, a shell struck the turret cheek of the Lowe, doing around 400 damage. It was the Tiger II, finally arriving to help. The Lowe repaired its tracks and turned towards the Tiger, firing and hitting my ally. I took advantage of the opportunity, and sped up the hill towards the distracted premium. I snuck in behind and fired point blank, penetrating clean through the turret. It noticed me and began to turn to face me, but I had already spelled its doom. I got in so close that it couldn't turn its hull, and pressed my barrel into the side of the tank. Point blank range. It fired at me, but glanced off my turret cheek. I pulled back and gained distance, aiming directly under the turret. The reloading indicator made the satisfactory "click" that I was reloaded, and I fired. The shell blew the turret off in a massive explosion, flying through the air and landing next to me. Done.

[Thx for the help KT!] I typed into the chat. He replied with a simple "Affirmative!" and continued up the hill. After that, it was simply a matter of how quickly the capture would go. Not long, we had 5 tanks in the zone. I did have the satisfaction of finishing off the 50 100 before the cap finished. It was a great game, I had gotten 3 kills and defeated a Lowe. I couldn't help but get up out of my chair and look at the post-game stats with a smile.

As I sat back down, I received a private message from someone named Xx_Artemis_xX. Wait, that was the Lowe driver!

"Probably here to accuse me of hacking. I can see it now, 'HAX HAX HAX!'" I muttered as I clicked it. No, it wasn't an accusation. The message read;

"Dear Zerokiller1628, you performed extremely well in that last battle, I'm impressed. You are the first person to kill me today, so you have gotten access to the latest test server early! Follow this link to join, and enter the code XXARTEMISXX to download!"

I sat there for a second. Was this "Artemis" person a developer? It had to be. I clicked the link, and explorer opened a black page with a single code entry in the middle. I entered the code, and downloaded the file. Still suspicious, I scanned the file for any viruses before opening. When It opened, the computer started flashing. I felt sick to my stomach, and light headed. I closed my eyes, and fell unconscious on the keyboard.


	2. Chapter 2

"My head…" I opened my eyes to a blinding light, the sun shining directly down onto me. It felt warm, like a soft blanket on a cold winter's day. I found myself lying on the ground, with a face-full of dirt and grass. The environment was completely green, with a river running down in between a forest. It was so peaceful, like a dream.

"Note to self: don't let mom make lasagna again." I muttered to myself. This had to be a dream. I must have fallen asleep on the computer, and now I was in the middle of this weird dream. One absolutely messed up dream. I felt kind of weak, like I had just run a marathon. I could barely pick up my legs and walk, and I only took about three steps before collapsing. I was tired, and I was itching all over. I looked down at my arm as I scratched, and noticed something odd. The Balkan cross was painted on my arm, like a tattoo. My sister was likely to blame for that, she liked to color on my face at night with washable markers.

"I swear, Madison, I will get you back for this…" I muttered.

_"__Ah_, _you're awake."_ A strange voice said. It sounded strangely feminine, but I couldn't see anyone anywhere.

"Who's there?" I asked. The wind whistled through the trees as I awaited a response.

"_Nobody, I'm just the voice in your head_." It said.

"The voice in my head? What kind of a dream is this?" I said, half to myself and half not.

"_Yeah… dream… Hey, listen. I'm working on your outside, and it's almost done. When it is, things are going to get a little… painful, in here. Things will change._" What did the voice mean by that?

"What the heck do you mean, painful?" I asked. There was no reply.

"Where am I?" I asked again.

"_Why, your innerscape silly!_" It shot back.

I tried to stand up again, and a surge of pain shot through me. My gut began to hurt badly, and I grabbed it with both hands in pain. It was intense, like none other I had felt before. It felt like my organs were moving around inside me, shifting and growing. Twisting, turning, rearranging, and shrinking. I felt like I was. I couldn't even speak with the pain; all I could do was roll around in agony and hope that it would stop. My hands started to go numb, and my whole body followed suit. My bones felt like they were crunching, expanding, and that I would pop like a bloody balloon. Soon I was unable to move at all, forced to sit and wait through the pain without moving. I tried to close my eyes, wanting to escape this nightmare. As I did, I spurted out a mix of blood and something blackish. It was thick and oily, like a glob of paint. I I closed my eyes in pain, and passed out.

When I opened my eyes again, I felt funny. I could barely see, and I had to squint. I was once again blinded, but I couldn't put my hand in front of my face. Were they numb? I had no feeling to my legs, either. I looked around slowly, and found myself in a new environment. It was like a meadow, with a hill on one side and a flat area on the other. It was a lush yellow-green, and the two areas were separated by a lake. It seemed oddly familiar. My pain was gone, and I felt like I was taller. I felt heavy, like a wall of bricks. Only then did the realization set in. I looked down at myself, and saw a big, grey object.

"Wait, is that… metal?" I touched it, and felt a metallic click as I did so. Wait, what was I touching it with? Wasn't my hand numb? I looked around one more time, and made yet another startling realization. This wasn't just a meadow, this was Malinovka!

"Is that what the voice meant? Change, like, me changing? That had to be what she meant. She made me something else! What did she do to me?" I said to myself.

"Wait… is that… a gun?" I asked myself, looking at the thing on my face.

"And the grey thing, is that a hull? Did she make me a tank?" I wiggled my gun up and down. She did! I was a Leichttraktor, on Malinovka! This had to be a dream, it just had to. I had to be sure, as unreal as it was. I struggled to move, and it took me a minute to figure it out. When I finally did, I moved along, trying to find something to poke myself on. I had to wake up. There was a destroyed building in front of me, laden with sharp points.

"Perfect." I muttered. I mustered up speed (not much), and rammed the spike. It dented in the frontal plate, causing a slight pain. A black substance leaked out, almost like oil. It was like blood to me, bleeding out when I was injured. Did that mean I was biological? I grew more curious by the second. This wasn't a dream, I had come to that conclusion. It was amazing. I could put aside the shock, and replace it with sheer wonder. This was the most amazing thing to ever happen to me. I wanted to explore it all. Unfortunately, there was no time. I heard the sound of another engine, alerting me to an unknown presence. I reacted fast, and hid inside the destroyed building. I still didn't know how to use my gun, or if I even could. I was defenseless.


	3. Chapter 3

The sounds got closer and closer. My mind raced as I listened, confused as ever at what was going on. A thousand questions raced through my mind. Why was I here? Why had I become a tank? Who was that strange voice? I had to put those off and hide. I rolled (I guess that's what you would call it) into a destroyed building and hid inside. I muttered under my breath. Finally, I heard their voices.

"Is the thing even any good?" Said one, sounding kind of young.

"I say you'd be better off with a Schmalturm, you get a better gun." Said another. This voice sounding my age, almost.

"I still have this hankering to get the Panzer V/IV."

"While you guys are arguing about that, me and Kenny will be blasting the crap out of everything from three miles away." Said a third, with a chuckle. This voice sounded exactly my age, slightly deeper than the second. I backed up a bit, bumping into a wooden frame and causing it to collapse. I stood straight like a nail, knowing I had probably been exposed.

"Crap." I thought to myself. They started to get closer and closer, and I closed my eyes in preparation.

"Hey there, what are you doing here?" A voice said. I slowly opened my eyes, and saw the four in front of me. An FT BS, a T57, a Panzerjager 1, and a T-15. I braced for death.

"Hey, we aren't going to shoot you." Said the T57. I opened my eyes again, looking curiously.

"Y-you're not?" I asked nervously.

"Yeah, because we would just shoot any random guy we meet." He said, with noticeable sarcasm. I frowned at him.

"The sarcasm was unnecessary." I said, making him chuckle. He drove up to me and smiled.

"The name's Trev. Short for Trevor, but I don't like Trevor." He introduced himself to me rather kindly, and the others followed.

"My name's Jerry." Said the T-15.

"Doc." Said the Panzerjager.

"Kenny." Said the FT BS. They seemed a friendly bunch, I guess I could ease up a bit.

"And your name?" They asked. What would I say to that? I didn't want to give it away just yet, I needed an alias. I quickly remembered a name from one of my favorite games, and picked it.

"Mobius." I said with a somewhat proud expression. The others smiled at me, and I felt like I was in a safe place after all.

"Well then, Mobius, why don't you come with us? We're always willing to take in a new friend." Trev said, and the others nodded. I thought for a moment. My best chances of survival, if this world was as violent and unforgiving as I expected, were with a group.

"I'd love to." I replied. The group then turned around, and I quickly came up beside them. With a pat on the engine deck and a smile, we left the fields of Malinovka. Was this going to be my new life? Only time would tell.

* * *

We travelled for a long time, the others talking amongst each other. I felt kind of strange, like I was some imposter that everyone would be terrified of if they knew my identity. I had to blend in, like nothing separated me from them. I had to change my entire life. I couldn't help but wonder why or how I was put in this position. I had a strange want to learn about my new biology, how we were supposed to function. Maybe soon I would have a chance.

"So Mobius, where ya from?" Asked Jerry. That question, as harmless as the intent was, was a problem. I quickly shot back a response.

"Nowhere, I'm just wandering." I replied nervously. Jerry nodded, my answer seemed to suffice.

"Parents?" Asked Doc.

"Never met them." I answered, again on the fly.

"I was the same." He replied. I felt guilty lying about that kind of thing.

"Not too wise wandering, you being a Tier 1 and all." Trev interrupted.

"Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking."

"That's why we're going to find you some XP."He added, much to my surprise. I looked at him in a confused manner.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"There are two ways to tier up. Free XP, which is hard to find, and normal XP. The only way to get that, my friend, is from battle." He replied. My eyes widened.

"Do you mean-"

"I've entered us into a low tier game in Prokorovka, the winners get somewhere around 15,000 XP. Of course, we would split that amongst the three of ourselves." That would leave me with 3,000 XP, enough to get the Panzer III Ausf. A! OF course, there was the problem of never having fired my gun before. I would have to figure that out eventually. I couldn't help but be nervous about that.

"Don't worry, we'll work together." Trev said, Doc nodding as well.

"Don't count on Jerry or Kenny, they're not too big on fighting." Doc said.

"I don't see the point of it." Said Kenny. Jerry nodded as well.

"We'll just stay out of it." He said. As the talk ventured to other subjects, I felt anxious. I was facing a chance to die. A chance for them to die. Worse yet, a chance that someone might find out my secret.

* * *

We arrived at Prokorovka late in the afternoon. It was quiet, but the ominous feeling of what lay ahead was in the air. We were greeted by a VK 30.01H, who was overseeing the fight. What kind of sick person would do this?

"We registered for the competition." Trev said to him. He looked coldly at us.

"Names?" He said in a deeper voice.

"Trev, and Doc. Jerry and Kenny dropped out but instead we have-"

"Yeah yeah, whatever. Go get ready. You're on the north side." He interrupted. Trev frowned, and we rolled slowly across the field. It was a mess. There were destroyed tanks, oil stains, and the smell of death. The latter clung to the air and made it near impossible to ignore. We finally reached the other side, and sat in the ready position. It wasn't until the countdown started a few minutes later that I realized what was going on.

"I'm going to die."


	4. Chapter 4

What was supposed to be a battle turned quickly into a hell storm. Tanks drove off immediately, mostly younger ones. It was safe to assume that they had never fought before, as most of them simply ran out into the open. I sat back for a few seconds and watched in disbelief as our team practically committed suicide. From over the hill came the sounds of gunfire, explosions, and blood-curdling screams. At least five out of our fifteen tanks died within the first minute. I was defenseless, as I still had not figured out how to use my gun.

Trev had positioned himself behind a small building, where his rear mounted gun was benefitting him greatly. Doc was in the bushes along with an AT-1 and T18, sniping at anything that came across the hill. The left side of the map, with the village and hill, was rather undefended. I decided that the left was my best option, and if we succeeded over there, we could potentially flank the enemy team. I started moving over the rails slowly, albeit as fast as my engine would allow. It still felt strange, having an engine inside me. It was a feeling I thought I would never get used to.

Once I went over the rails, I passed a sniping T1 Cunningham. I stopped and looked back at him, realizing I would need help.

"Hey, can you follow me? I could use backup." I asked. The T1 nodded, and we started moving up towards the hill. Once we passed through the village, a shell whizzed over me. I looked around and hunkered down to the best of my ability. I spotted an FT, at the edge of the village. The T1 noticed him too, and sent a spray of 37mm fire into the enemy tank. It screamed in agony, and exploded. I shook of the screams, and we continued up the hill. Slowly we crawled, as fast as our engines would permit. Up at the top of the hill, we stopped for a second. I attempted to look around, when the T1 next to me took a hit. He wailed in pain as it exploded inside of him, and I looked at the shell hole in his frontal armor. Black oily substance started bleeding out, and pieces of debris littered the ground. It was a disgusting sight. Another shell hit him, followed by two more. He exploded, and I was covered with the oily material as well as other… things. I spotted the assailant, an MS-1 behind a bush. I had him where I wanted him, right in my aim. There was one problem.

"_Come on, come on… it can't be that hard to shoot!" _I muttered. The MS-1 spotted me, and turned his turret at me. This was it, I was doomed. The MS-1 fired its 45mm, impacting me in my hull. The pain was like being stabbed, but much worse. I groaned as it hit, and tried to shake it off. I had to fight back somehow…

"_You're not going to die today…" _I thought to myself. I looked back at the MS-1, and somehow, my gun fired. I couldn't explain the feeling, it was certainly strange. However it was I did it, I managed to use my gun. The shell struck the MS-1 in the turret, and he simply collapsed as it hit. I guess turret shots are the equivalent of headshots. I chuckled a bit to myself, more of a nervous one than a happy one. I had to continue on.

I "raced" down the hill, trying to flank the enemy team. I was hurting, but that wasn't important. Survival was more important, and surviving meant winning. I stopped in front of the rails, and waited for a second. I was somewhat scared. I shook the feeling off, and moved over the ridge. On the other side, I could see what was left of the enemy team. There were several tanks, none paying attention to me. This was my chance. I picked out the biggest threat, a T18. Firing at his rear, I managed to land three hits on him before he exploded. The other tanks looked around confused, and my teammates realized the opportunity. An H35, FT, and T1 crossed the hill, firing on the distracted enemies. Trev destroyed a Medium 1 with an accurate shot, and Doc sniped a Sexton in the cap circle. It was over in seconds. What once was the enemy team was now just a debris field. Against the odds, I had survived.

Trev and Doc met up with me outside the battle zone. We shared looks of bewilderment, mainly the fact that we had survived the inferno. Out of the three of us, I had been the only one to get hurt. Doc first noticed it before we met up to collect our reward from the VK 30.01 H.

"Oh my God, you're hurt!" He exclaimed, getting up close and looking at the wound. I forced a smile.

"Yeah, there was an MS-1 back up on the hill that put a 45 millimeter round into me." I replied. I hadn't really paid any attention to the pain until he mentioned it.

"I'm gonna need to look at that right away, in case it could get infected." He said, examining it and looking up at me.

"Let's just get our reward and meet back up with Jerry and Kenny first." I said.

"Then we can look at it." Doc nodded, and the three of us went over to the VK giving out rewards. He looked at us for only a moment, before giving us a whopping pile of free experience and credits. Trev and Doc had to split it amongst their travel sacks. After that, we met back up with Kenny and Jerry. They seemed excited to see us.

"Well, did you win? What happened? Are you hurt?" Jerry asked in a hailstorm of questions.

"We won, yes, and Mobius is hurt, yes." Trev replied. Jerry shut his mouth when he heard the last part.

"I need a place to take a look at him before I can help him, anyone know somewhere close by?" Doc asked.

"I think I saw a garage or two a few miles back, but at this time of day, it'll be night by the time we get there." Kenny replied. Doc looked at me with a worried expression.

"Do you think you can wait until daylight? We'll need to stop at one point." He asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." I replied.

"Are you sure?" I hesitated before answering.

"What's the worst that could happen?" I replied. I should have known not to ever reply with those words.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey everyone! Sorry it's taken so long to update this; last week was hectic and so was yesterday. However, I have finally managed to grab time to write this. World of Warships is also partly to blame, man that game is fun! Dang it Wargaming, why u make such distracting game? Also, expect a new chapter of my FNAF story this week as well! As always, read, review, and enjoy! **

* * *

Night came quicker than I had wanted. Only a few minutes had passed between the time we had departed and the time the sun started to set. Although my vision was somewhat better like this, It was still very dark outside. I would have used the term "I couldn't see a hand in front of my face," but for obvious reasons, that didn't quite fit the situation. As the darkness surrounded us, the realization set in that we would have to set up camp out in the open for the night. That, in itself, brought up a few concerns.

You see, out in this world, it was rather common to be attacked on sight. Tanks were ruthless sometimes, and would murder you in your sleep just for a gallon of fuel. According to Trev and Doc, the area we were staying in was not exactly calm. We were warned to stay on the lookout, just in case a midnight raider decided to take advantage of us. Not that knowing would do any good, with the paper guns we had. Needless to say, all of us had a bit of trouble getting off to sleep that night.

Out of all of us, it was easiest to see that I was having the most trouble. My wound from earlier was starting to sting, and the pain slowly started to increase. I was leaking a black substance, which I would compare to a thick and oily kind of blood. I had wanted to learn something about my newfound anatomy, but I had no desire to learn it like this. Besides my increasingly worrying wound, I had other things on my mind. So many questions from today ran through my head. Was I going to die? Were the others going to find out about me? Who was that strange voice? So many questions and no answers at all. Well, for the moment. I was determined to find out about the last one, but the first two questions I refused to ask myself. I didn't have to wait long for answers.

"_Wake up, sleepyhead!" _A voice from seemingly nowhere startled me awake. When I did wake up, however, the scenery had changed. It took me a while to recognize where I was. It was the same place I had heard that voice before!

"_Hello? I know for a fact that you can hear me." _The voice spoke again. This time, I was rather quick to respond.

"I remember you! You're the "voice in my head!'" I shouted back. The voice let out a childish giggle. It obviously thought my discontent was amusing.

"_Well I'm not just a voice, of course. A voice can't exist without a person to speak it, you know." _I could sense the sarcasm in that.

"Well if you're more than just a voice, why don't you just show yourself already?" I asked with a slight tone of frustration. There was a silence for a few seconds.

"_Ok, I can agree to that." _The air seemed to become lighter after those words were spoken. A faint white glow appeared in front of me, slowly becoming brighter and brighter. As it became brighter, it grew and grew until it took up all of my field of vision. I covered my eyes with my gun to avoid going blind. When I opened them, I saw something strange, yet beautiful.

Before me stood a L_ö_we, but different than any I had ever seen before. It glowed a faint whitish aura, and was colored as white as snow. There was not a scratch on it, it looked brand new. It had a distinct feminine look to it, and it looked at me with its two purple colored eyes and a bright smile. I looked in awe at the specter before me.

"Good to see you in person." It said to me. It took me a second to speak back.

"So… this is… you?" I asked, somewhat surprised.

"Yup, I chose this form to represent what you likely recognize me from." It answered back.

"Recognize? I've never met you before."

"Think again, silly." She replied. I thought real hard about the last time I had met a L_ö_we. Then it clicked in my head.

"Wait; are you the _Lö_we from that game I played a while back?" The white tank nodded.

"My name is Artemis. I've been watching you for quite a while." She said to me. Well, that's not creepy at all.

"That's somewhat unsettling." I shot back. Artemis giggled.

"I figured you would say something like that." She said.

"You did this to me, why?" I quickly said. The question seemed to take her off guard.

"I have my reasons; I'm not going to reveal them to you yet." I frowned at her, and she simply smiled.

"You're probably wondering what I am, is that not right?" She asked me.

"Yeah, that is something that would be nice to know." I replied.

"Well, it's kind of hard to explain. To put it in simple terms for the time being, I'm an entity. That is, an entity that will be constantly checking in on you. You're very important to me, Mobius, and I'm going to guide you to where you need to be." That seemed like a legitimate thing to say, but I was still very confused.

"That is, if I don't die a horrible death in a few days." I said with a nervous chuckle.

"I've taken a few precautions, let's just safely assume that won't happen." She replied. Once again, I was confused.

"I barely know how to do anything here! I won't last five more days like this!" I yelled, frustrated.

"You may think that, but I know otherwise. Besides, you're catching on quickly. You'll have everything figured out in no time. Although, there are some things that could potentially mess everything up, but I'm fairly certain that won't happen." She tried to reassure me, but I was still concerned.

"What if someone figures me out? You know, realizes I'm not like them?" I asked her.

"I don't know. But for now, let's hope that doesn't happen." I opened my mouth to speak again, but she put her massive barrel on it to make me stop talking.

"I know you have a lot of questions for me, but you're going to have to save them for another time. It's time for you to wake up. Just remember, I'll make sure you get where you're needed." She said with a reassuring voice. As soon as she said that, everything started to fade away. I saw black, and I felt myself become more real. Was I out of the dream? I opened my eyes, and was greeted with sunlight striking me. I felt the grass against me, and the wind cooling me down. Trev, Doc, Jerry, and Kenny were all there, beginning to stir. I was back. And after that conversation, I finally felt the confidence I needed. Of course, there was the pain from my wound to greet me as well. Yep, I was definitely back.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey everyone, TheGreatHetzer here with another chapter for you guys! Sorry about not updating last week, I've had quite a few things to do and I was pressed for time. However, I managed to update today! Yay! Hope you guys enjoy the chapter, as always, please read and review!**

* * *

The conversation had made me feel somewhat better, but the general picture of my situation was unchanged. I could die at any moment, be discovered at any moment, or a thousand other bad things could happen. Most would call me paranoid, but how could I not be in a time like this? Here I am with a hole in my frontal plate, slowly but steadily losing blood (or oil, whatever it is). As we got up and started on our way to the garages, I started to find it harder to keep going. My vision blurred every now and then, and I would periodically loose a ton of strength and fall behind. Doc and the others became increasingly worried for my health, at one point we even stopped altogether. Doc stopped and rolled over to me, while Trev and Kenny kept watch.

"Hey buddy, you holding up?" The Panzerjager 1 asked. I met his expression of worry with a false smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine, let's just keep on going." I replied, panting a bit. Doc frowned, that reply didn't satisfy him at all.

"That's the biggest lie I've ever heard. It doesn't take a medical examiner to see that you're not going to be able to keep going for long." He shot back.

"No, really, I just want to get to that garage so you can fix me back up." Doc looked around, thinking for a second. He then turned and pointed his gun at a rock, a few yards away.

"See that rock? Race me to it." He said. What did racing have to do with anything?

"Then can we go?" I asked, somewhat impatient.

"Yes, but race me first." Fine, whatever. I rolled up next to Doc, and waited for his word. At his cue, I set off. We were neck and neck, or… turret ring and turret ring I guess. He barely passed me, and tapped the rock with his tracks right before I did.

"Now can we go?" I asked, stopping to pant a bit. Doc simply looked at me with a frown.

"I was only going 1/4 speed." He said. I let out a sigh. Well, you can't win em all.

"And this proves what, that Leichtraktors are slow? Everyone knows that."

"No, it proved that you are not fit to keep going. That shell must have hit something important, like a lung or something. That would explain the panting." Doc replied.

"And this means…?"

"It means two things. One: you're going to need someone to tow you. Two: I'm going to have to work on you more than I had expected." At the mention of the first thing, Jerry came over in a rush.

"I've got a tow cable in my sack; I can pull him!" The T-15 said with enthusiasm. Doc smiled and patted the tier 3 premium gently on the turret. The little light tank opened his sack, on the right side of his hull. Pulling out a long cable, he employed the help of Doc to attach one side to his rear plate, pulling it to test its strength. He then picked up the other end with his barrel, and came over to me.

"Stay still." He said as he went in and attached the cable to my rear plate. It wasn't exactly comfortable. Jerry then turned around, so that we were back to back. He looked at Doc and nodded to imply that he was ready, and we moved out. Being towed isn't exactly fun. While I didn't have to use my engine and exert needed energy, it felt like I was being dragged. Well, I pretty much was. I would have to endure another hour of this before we finally reached the garages. Turning my turret around to get a good look at one, it wasn't exactly magnificent from the outside.

It was basically a hanger from the outside, all rusted and metal. The only windows were up above, too high to see in or out. Not even an FV4001 could see in there. We all rolled up to the first one, each of the others aiming at the door. Trev tapped it, and when no response came, he opened the door. Inside was a flat area, with shelves on one side and various mechanical equipment on the other. Up in the corner of the room was a small television, I guess for entertainment. Doc rolled in, took a good look, and shook his gun.

"No equipment in this one to work on Mob." He said, and we all moved to the next one. When it opened, there was nothing different other than a few posters of German premium vehicles on the wall, which Jerry flocked to. He practically forgot he was towing me, as he lurched forward to the Panzer V/IV poster.

"Look at that thing… that'll be me some day." He said, talking basically to himself.

"Good luck with the gold situation, where are ya going to find all that?" Kenny asked with a chuckle. Jerry turned and sighed, looking at Kenny with a smirk.

"I'll find a way. This is my garage, by the way." He replied. He then unhooked the tow cable, and nudged me gently out of the garage.

"Hey, watch it-" I was met with a door slamming in my face. Obviously, he wanted to be alone with his future self. Trev chuckled, and then moved to the next garage. Upon opening it, Doc rushed in with eyes wide as saucers, like the ones World of Jokeplanes did for April Fools that one day. Inside were medical instruments, and a small operating table in place of the shelves.

"I can definitely work with this." Doc said with a smile. Trev chuckled.

"You know you're a nerd when medical instruments make you excited." He said, causing me to chuckle.

"I don't think being a nerd is that bad, especially when you can make other tanks better." Kenny said. Doc practically ignored them both, and rolled over to me.

"Now that I have what I need, I can look after you. Come on!" He said, grabbing me and dragging me into the garage. I looked worried at Trev and Kenny, who chuckled.

"See you in the next life buddy." Said Trev. This did not sound like it would be fun.

* * *

"So the gun shield was missing, and the doctor was never heard from again!" Doc yelled with a laugh. I chuckled nervously, his jokes weren't very settling. Doc was trying to be gentle as he moved his instrument inside my shell hole, trying to pick out tiny fragments of shrapnel. Every time he did, I winced from the pain. It was as if he was slowly plucking out bits of flesh and organs. Finally he pulled the last bit out, and placed it on the table. He then wiped off my holed area with a cloth, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Try breathing now." He said. I inhaled deeply, feeling a sharp pain inside me. I wheezed and coughed, sending bits of oil out my mouth. Doc picked one up with some tweezers

"Well, that doesn't… look good…" I said with a weak chuckle.

"That means my fears are well placed. You have shrapnel in your lungs." He said, reaching back and picking up something unseen to me.

"You can fix it, right?" I asked.

"Oh yes, of course, but that will require some… _drastic…_ action." The word 'drastic' didn't make me feel very good. I raised an eyebrow, mentally asking what he was going to do.

"I'll have to cut into your hull and get it out, and that will require quite a bit of anesthetic." He said.

"You know how to do this, right?" I asked nervously.

"Well, knowing how is a bit of a stretch…" He replied, turning and picking up a large metal bar.

"What's that for?"

"Well… I'm going to have to conserve my anesthetic." He replied. He then turned around, rose the metal bar, and brought it down hard on my turret. Then everything went black.

* * *

**Spot the Team Fortress 2 reference for a shout out in the next chapter! Answer in reviews.**


	7. Chapter 7

**You probably thought this story was dead. Nope. Chuck Testa. I've had a lot of stuff going on recently, and this story has unfortunately dropped in my priority. I'm sad to say that I'm probably not going to stick to me update-per-week schedule. Don't worry, this will still get updated. I will not let this die! It was my first story to be successful, and it means a lot to me. So no, this story is not dead. Thanks.**

* * *

"_Wake up! Come on Mob, get up!" _With the voice of Doc stirring me, I finally started to open my eyes. Everything was blurry at first, but I eventually could make out the shape of a TD in front of me. Everything was in a haze, Doc must have used quite a bit of anesthetic on me to keep me out. I took a deep breath, to see if the operation worked. Much to my delight, It felt clear. No pain! Doc's operation had worked! I tried to get off the operating area, but Doc stopped me. He seemed stronger than usual.

"Woah there, take it a bit easier." He said with a chuckle. Around that time, my vision finally returned. I could now see that Doc was no longer a Panzerjager, but a strong and powerful Marder II. When had he upgraded?

"You look… different…" I said, partially still asleep. Once again, Doc chuckled.

"I upgraded after the operation. You like it?" I nodded, which made Doc smile. The Marder II turned towards the table, swiping a metal pole off into the floor as he did. It was the same pole he used to knock me out, there were oil stains on it. Doc looked back at me, and noticed I was looking at the pole.

"Sorry about that, by the way. I had to make sure you would stay asleep through the operation." He said, with sincerity in his voice.

"No problem, you did what you had to." I replied. He smiled back at that comment.

"I had expected you to be angry. Good to know you're not." He said.

"Can I get down now?" I asked.

"Yeah, just be easy on yourself." Doc replied. I finally rolled off the operating area, feeling good. No more pain bothering me, thank God. I looked around, trying to gain my bearings. That was when I noticed the small shack-like building in the corner of the hangar. It was big enough to fit anything, but it must not have offered much space inside. I was curious as to what it was.

"Hey, what's that thing over there?" I asked Doc, pointing at it with my barrel. Doc looked somewhat puzzled, and gave me a funny expression.

"That's an upgrade station, doesn't everyone know that?" I shook my head side to side.

"That's a first. Usually you would know what that is from your first day. Anyway, I'd recommend upgrading. It'll increase your survival chance, no doubt." I had the money and the exp to get to tier 3, and the tank I would go to was without a doubt the Panzer III A. That was my first big step up to the Panther II. Just imagining myself as a Panther II gave me cold chills. Such a great tank…

"Are you going to go, or will I have to push you in?" Doc said, interrupting my thought process.

"Oh no, I'll go on ahead." I replied, somewhat embarrassed. This would be a big step for me. I rolled into the shack, slightly nervous about the upgrade process. As I rolled onto a large pad on the floor, the door shut behind me. I looked back with wide eyes, my nervousness was getting the best of me.

"_You shouldn't need any help operating it," _Doc said from outside, "_It's pretty self explanatory and simple."_ Simple? It looked confusing to me alright. At last, a light came on inside. A large computer screen came up, showing the seven tech trees of World of Tanks. I hesitated a second or two before clicking on the German insignia. A text box came up, with the words "Identifying model" on the screen. A few seconds passed, and more words came up. "Please deposit experience in the receptacle" it said. I looked around to find a place to put it, finding a chute under the monitor.

_Experience, experience… _I looked around to see where I had put the experience. It was in a backpack, on my engine deck. I opened it excitedly, and poured the 5,000 experience points inside. Once again, the computer processed. "Please deposit credits on the receptacle" it said next. I sighed, and opened the bag again. This time, I poured the many credits inside. It processed again. "Do you have any gold?" It said. Two buttons flashed, one that said "yes" and one that said "no." I punched the no button. It processed again. Finally, a new screen came up. It showed all the tanks I could afford in my tech tree, something I wished World of Tanks had. I slapped the Panzer III A with my barrel, putting a small crack in the screen. Too enthusiastic. The screen changed again. This time, it showed the upgrade tree for the Panzer III A. I hit every one, as I could afford them all. A small window appeared at the bottom.

"Are you ready to upgrade?" It said. I waited for a few seconds, my mind racing. I was excited, but nervous too. Would it be painful? Would I be out for a while? It was a risk worth taking. I punched the "yes" button, and the computer went black.

"What'd I touch?" I muttered to myself. Before I could speak again, however, there was a searing pain in my right side. I looked down to the source of it, and saw a shell hole. Where did that come from? Within seconds of asking myself that, I started to become dizzy. That was followed by fatigue, and then, sleep. Sedated two times in one day. Lovely.

* * *

I felt a familiar feeling as I started to wake up. Blurred vision, heavy breathing, but something new as well. I felt sore everywhere. Every possible part of my body hurt. Once again, everything was in a haze. Combine that with a dark room, and you get blindness. I felt somewhat good though. Stronger, heavier, more powerful. I wanted to take a look at myself, but the darkness wasn't helping much at all. Then, the door started to open. I covered my eyes with my gun barrel, to avoid the light coming in. After a few seconds of adjusting, I finally started to roll out. The light of day hit my hull, bouncing up into my eyes. I muttered under my breath, before it stopped bothering me. I looked so different…

A stubby 37mm gun protruded out of my mantlet. Technically, it was the same size as my old one. Not that it bothered me. My tracks were wider and larger; my armor was thicker (not saying much), and my engine was better. My engine was _much _better. Most of all, I felt bigger. I was no longer the little pipsqueak Leichtrakor. No, now I felt like I could take on the world! Of course, that was a stretch. There wasn't much I could do in reality, but my upgrade made me feel safer. I had to go show the others! Where were they…

I looked around the garage, but Doc wasn't there. _He_ _and the others must be outside_, I thought. Feeling my engine for the first time, I rolled out the hangar doors. The grass on my new tracks felt good, almost soothing. My engine was indeed strong, I could work up speeds unimaginable as a Leichtraktor. I felt _amazing!_ And I was right, the others were all outside, talking together. With a bit of pride, I rolled up to the others.

"Hey everyone!" I said, joining into the conversation.

"Oh, hey Mobius!" Trev said. He was now an M7 Priest, an arty I admired greatly. The other two, Kenny and Jerry, remained the same.

"You look nice as a Panzer III." Doc said with a smile.

"Thanks. What are you guys up to?" I asked in reply. Doc sighed.

"Not much, just talking about how we're going to defend this place."

"From what?" I asked curiously.

"Well," Trev said, "This area is particularly nasty in terms of raiders and such. So we've been planning a defensive fortification. Only temporary, of course." Raiders didn't sound too pleasing.

"Need any help?"

"Not at the moment, we haven't finished planning. Go get some rest, you've been busy upgrading and operated on today." Doc said.

"Will you call me when I'm needed?" I asked.

"Sure." That settled it for me. With a relatively happy feeling, I rolled back into the garage. I felt so good, I had almost forgotten about everything that happened recently. Today had been a great day so far. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.

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**By the way, it was ScarfaceOne who got the reference last chapter. Congrats to you!**


	8. Chapter 8

Night had fallen upon the area, and all was quiet. Trev, Doc, Jerry, and Kenny were all in their respective garages, using their time to rest and prepare to the day ahead. Trev had told me the plan for tomorrow before I had decided to head into my garage, which involved planning out the defensive emplacements and positions we would use in case of an attack. To be honest, all my fears of death and uncertainty had passed away. You could kind of say that it was a psychological thing, seeing as I had massively upgraded my capabilities. With experience, that would likely go away as well. But, for the time being, I was able to sleep soundly inside the confines of my residence.

Sleeping as a tank was actually quite strange. I was still used to falling asleep on a bed (who can blame me), so I felt a tad bit awkward attempting to fall asleep in the middle of the room. No matter how hard I tried, sleep simply wouldn't come. Eventually, I figured out that the only way to fall asleep was to turn off my engine. Only then did I receive the ability to doze off. When I did turn it off, everything was silent. Without the background noise it created, I was able to hear a great deal more. It almost startled me at the level of absolute silence the world was capable of. It was to this silence that I eventually managed to doze off.

I didn't get anywhere near the amount of sleep that I would have preferred. The sound of cannon fire shook me awake, alerting me to impending danger. I looked around my garage in a state of panic, loading a shell into the breech just in case. After quickly starting my engine, I moved myself over to the entrance. I could faintly distinguish the sound of the others shouting, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. Suddenly there was a knock on the garage door, forcing me to aim at whoever was there in my own defense.

"Who's there?" I demanded. If the wrong answer was given, I had decided that the only possible option was to open fire. Thankfully, I was greeted by the sound of Trev speaking.

"Mob, you'd better get out here." He said in a very serious tone. I rolled over the button to open the doors, which slowly proceeded to separate. I was able to look into the M7 Priest's eyes, seeing an expression of worry. I noticed the smell of smoke coming from his barrel, telling me that _he _had been the one to fire earlier.

"What… what happened?" I asked. The arty beckoned me to follow, and I promptly accepted. He led me over to where the others were: the front of Jerry's garage door. Around the corner of the garage, I noticed a faint orange glow that flickered constantly. My mind already told me what was around the corner, but I decided to look for myself anyway. The sight I was met with was exactly what I had expected.

It was the burning corpse of a light tank, probably a T2 Light. The turret had been blown clean off, fires licking out of the turret ring and through the shrapnel holes scattered around its hull. A pool of oil leaked out from beneath it, which I noticed I had rolled into. I backed up in an attempt to wipe the lifeblood from my tracks, only to find that it stuck like wet glue. It was disgusting. I turned to face Trev, just now noticing the scratch marks on his glacis left by ricocheted shells.

"This guy tried to break into my garage, so I snuck out the back door. I surprised him, and he fired at me as he tried to run. I managed to hit him, putting him in the state he's in now." The arty said.

"Are you hurt?" Trev shook his gun to say no.

"Take a closer look at his turret." He replied. I gave a confused expression, and turned back to the severed turret of the T2. Inching closer, I scrutinized in an attempt to find what Trev was referring to. When I found it, I instantly realized what the significance of it was. There was a clan insignia on the side. When I turned back around, Doc had moved forward to speak.

"If he's in a clan, then he's got friends. I've got a feeling that he was scouting for the rest of them, and that they're on their way as we speak." The Marder II said. A feeling of fear spread throughout me. All the feeling of invincibility had seemingly dissipated all at once, leaving me practically shaking in my tracks.

"What can we do about it? There's just five of us." Jerry asked. Trev frowned.

"If their scout was a T2, then they're probably a low-tier clan. If we think it out efficiently, I'm sure we can set up a good defense." Doc and I nodded in agreement, while Kenny and Jerry shared an expression of uncertainty. Trev then turned to me, and sighed.

"Hey Mob, I've got a job for you." He said. I noticed the tone of his voice, and something told me even he wasn't all for the idea.

"Something tells me I won't like it." I said in reply. The arty shook his gun to say "no."

"Listen, I know you're still new and everything, but I'm going to need you to scout for me." I recognized the risk of scouting. I needed to put myself far ahead of the others, which meant that I'd be without help if the clan found me. It also meant that I would be the first to make contact. Without a scout, however, the others wouldn't get any advanced warning. Trev would be forced to fire blind.

"Fine." I said. "Where do you want me?" Trev forced a faint smile before replying.

"Go around two kilometers that way," he said, pointing his gun in a direction. "and find a nice bush to spot from. Let me know immediately if you see anything. Contact us on our secure channel." He said, proceeding to connect me to their private radio channel.

"Good luck." He finished. I nodded, turning to drive off in the direction that he had said. I needed all the luck I could get.


End file.
